Multiple choice questions

Multiple choice questions will appear throughout both exams papers (Breadth and Depth), and at both Foundation tier and Higher tier.

These questions provide you with a number of answers, from which you must select the answer or answers that you think are correct.

A multiple choice question may require you to:

tick one or more boxes next to the correct statements in a list
tick 'true' or 'false' next to each statement in a list
draw a ring around the correct answer in a list
select the correct answer or answers from 'talking heads' speech bubbles
join the boxes by drawing lines between two linked statements or between questions and correct answers
select the correct word from a list to complete one or more sentences
re-order statements into the correct sequence

The question may tell you in bold type how many ticks, rings or lines to draw. If you draw less than this, or more than this, you will not be able to get full marks. Make sure that you draw straight lines, rather than complex wavy lines.

There will usually be more options than correct answers. Read each option carefully and decide whether it is right or wrong.

The number of marks for the question will not always match the number of ticks, rings or lines required - read the question carefully to make sure you understand what you have to do.

Sample question 1 - Foundation

Question

This question is about the magnetic effect of an electric current.

Which one of the diagrams correctly shows the magnetic field caused by a wire conducting an electric current (electric current going into the paper)? [1 mark]

Four images showing the magentic field. A - a circular field anti-clockwise, B - a circular field clockwise, C - field lines pointing away, D - line pointing towards itself.

OCR 21st Century Science, GCE Physics, Paper J259, 2016 - Higher.

Sample question 2 - Higher

Question

When an electric motor is switched on, it has a very large current through it, but this rapidly drops to a much smaller value.

Which two of the following statements can explain this observation? Put ticks in the boxes after the two correct statements. [2 marks]

A	The turning motor acts as a generator which produces a pd opposing the battery pd
B	As the motor speeds up, the friction in the turning parts becomes smaller
C	Friction in the motor dissipates energy resulting in more energy taken from the supply
D	Current heats the coils in the motor which makes their resistance increase
E	As the motor turns faster, the force needed to turn it decreases

A
The turning motor acts as a generator which produces a pd opposing the battery pd

B
As the motor speeds up, the friction in the turning parts becomes smaller

C
Friction in the motor dissipates energy resulting in more energy taken from the supply

D
Current heats the coils in the motor which makes their resistance increase

E
As the motor turns faster, the force needed to turn it decreases

OCR 21st Century Science, GCE Physics, Paper J259, 2016 - Higher.

A	The turning motor acts as a generator which produces a pd opposing the battery pd	✔
B	As the motor speeds up, the friction in the turning parts becomes smaller
C	Friction in the motor dissipates energy resulting in more energy taken from the supply
D	Current heats the coils in the motor which makes their resistance increase	✔
E	As the motor turns faster, the force needed to turn it decreases

A
The turning motor acts as a generator which produces a pd opposing the battery pd
✔

B
As the motor speeds up, the friction in the turning parts becomes smaller

C
Friction in the motor dissipates energy resulting in more energy taken from the supply

D
Current heats the coils in the motor which makes their resistance increase
✔

E
As the motor turns faster, the force needed to turn it decreases

When answering multiple choice questions it is important to carefully read the question and all the possible answers. This one is a difficult one as there is a lot of reading involved; read the answers through and eliminate the ones you easily can. Friction will increase with speed so you know the second point must be wrong. Although friction does dissipate energy as heat, this does not result in more energy being taken from the supply. As the motor turns faster, the force needed to turn it doesn't change so the final point is wrong also.

Sample question 3 - Foundation

Question

Jasmine measured how the potential difference changed with the current in a wire. The graph shows the pattern of her results.

Graph plotting potential difference against current for a fixed resistor. Line is directly proportional.

Put ticks in the boxes next to the two correct conclusions from the graph. [2 marks]

A	The wire has no resistance
B	The resistance increases with current
C	The resistance increases with the potential difference
D	The resistance is fixed
E	The wire is a linear part of the circuit

A
The wire has no resistance

B
The resistance increases with current

C
The resistance increases with the potential difference

D
The resistance is fixed

E
The wire is a linear part of the circuit

OCR 21st Century Science, GCE Physics, Paper J260, 2016.

A	The wire has no resistance
B	The resistance increases with current
C	The resistance increases with the potential difference
D	The resistance is fixed	✔
C	The wire is a linear part of the circuit	✔

A
The wire has no resistance

B
The resistance increases with current

C
The resistance increases with the potential difference

D
The resistance is fixed
✔

C
The wire is a linear part of the circuit
✔

When answering this question, carefully look at the graph given - in this case it is a V-I graph. The gradient of a V-I graph gives the components resistance - in this case it is a straight line through the origins so we can conclude that the resistance is fixed and is a linear part of the circuit.

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Sample exam questions - electric circuits - OCR 21st CenturyMultiple choice questions